A Relationship Built on Breakfast
by Imotio
Summary: The table is wobbly, the coffee is weak, the newspapers are weeks old. So why does Kaiba kept coming back? Another pointless drabble.


A Relationship Built on Breakfast

Kaiba Seto sat at his usual table. Always wobbly, always not enough cardboard under the short leg to stop it wobbling. He always sat in the back corner of the cafe, away from the noise of the entrance and the clutter of something inevitably being dropped in the kitchen. He glanced down at his watch and sighed inwardly. He had been waiting for twenty minutes now for his order. It always took far too long to make his food, even when he was the only person in the cafe. The coffee was weak and the toast was soggy. The bacon was always hard to chew and the newspapers were weeks old. It was a place for poor university students, not the CEO of the major company.

So why would the Seto Kaiba waste his mornings in such a place? There were plenty of other places that were up to his standards where he could have the novelty of reading the current newspaper and having a level table. He never explained to anyone the reasons for his choice; he didn't expect them to understand. Really it was one reason, it was the waiter.

Kaiba had been walking past one morning after his chauffer called in sick and then the replacement couldn't fix the flat tyre. The cafe he normally had breakfast at was a few blocks away when he saw a familiar face in the window. Jounochi Katsuya was scrubbing the window of a rather grungy cafe, his tongue poking out the side of his mouth as he concentrated on removing a particularly stubborn stain. Kaiba fought the urge to stop and stare and his high school pest; enemy was giving the blonde far too much credit. It had been a few years now since they had graduated and they hadn't seen each other since. Slowing down ever so slightly, Kaiba noticed Jou had seen him. The blonde's first reaction was one of surprise, then one of confusion, then resentment, then confusion again and finally embarrassment. He quickly turned on his heels and disappeared into the kitchen. Kaiba was almost sad; he quite enjoyed the sight of Jou in an apron.

For a week as his limo drove past the cafe, Kaiba glanced over quickly to see if Jou was there. Every day he saw him, taking orders, collecting plates or mopping the floor. After two days Kaiba had to start fighting the inexplicable urge to go to that cafe. It was ludicrous, there was absolutely nothing appealing about that place to him. And yet he kept looking over on the chance that he might spot Jou.

After a week of biting these urges back, Kaiba decided there couldn't be much harm in going in there once. Just to prove his point that there was nothing alluring about this cafe and his regular choice was superior. When he walked in, he noticed Jou out of the corner of his eye stiffen and pretend that mopping the floor required the entirety of his attention. With his usual air of authority, Kaiba found a seat at the back of the cafe and flipped through the menu, pretending he wasn't actually focused of watching Jou squirm. Kaiba was slightly disappointed when Jou didn't serve him, though he was never going to admit that. Besides, Kaiba was quite enjoying watching Jou pretend the brunette was there. Although Kaiba wasn't at all content with the meal, he felt rather satisfied on the way to work that day.

Kaiba began to alternate between cafes in order to balance a half decent meal with watching Jou's reaction to his presence. After a few weeks, it was starting to become less amusing and approaching a feeling that in anyone else would be described as being upset. Jou had avoided serving him at all costs and refused to look at him. Kaiba knew he hadn't exactly been the friendliest of people to Jou in high school but that was years ago. Surely he had dropped it by now. But evidently he hadn't, he was always far more sensitive than Kaiba. A strange feeling started to twist Kaiba's intestines around each other and made his stomach feel like it was full of lead. He looked down at the table, puzzled by this bizarre feeling. He didn't see Jou cautiously look over at him.

Although Mokuba had told him this feeling was guilt, Kaiba refused to accept this. The strange feeling hit him again when Jou was finally forced to serve him. There were only two waiters in that day and the other one was currently juggling three orders while a customer complained about the state of the scrambled eggs. Kaiba noticed the moment Jou's bravado kicked in as he confidently asked Kaiba for his order as if he was a normal customer. Once Kaiba stated the order, Jou replied offhandedly, "I know. You don't like to break habits do you?"

Kaiba smirked but before he could give his remark, Jou hurried towards the kitchen. His notepad was dropped into his apron pocket while he tucked his pen behind his ear. Kaiba had noticed that on the first day he saw him, the pen was always over his right ear and he would lick it quickly every fourth time he used it to get it working again. He started to wonder if Jou realised his was a creature of habit too.

The order made it to his table without any hassle apart from the usual extended waiting time. But he hardly noticed. Kaiba had been watching the blonde more intently than usual; he didn't even pretend to be doing work on his laptop. The strange feeling in his abdomen had subsided to be replaced by a sudden wave of heat through his body as his heart rate rapidly increased. Somewhere in the back recesses of his mind he made a note to consult a doctor about this but at that moment he just stared in Jou's general direction. The blonde quickly dealt with the difficult customers and set about clearing the tables. It amused Kaiba that someone as clumsy as Jou could juggle so many plates, cups and cutlery. He had to open the kitchen door with his hips and may have even given a swift look over at Kaiba, he couldn't be sure. He had been too transfixed in the blonde's movements to be aware of something so quick.

After Jou had served him, Kaiba started to favour the grungy cafe. The occasion when Jou served him was still rare but the twisting feeling had diminished now. Jou even smiled at him once. That had caught Kaiba off guard; he felt his face flush slightly as he fought to gain control of his body. Jou didn't seem to notice but he had noticed Kaiba was starting to tip. He also notice that Kaiba only tipped when Jou served him.

Over months, Kaiba made the stop at this cafe part of his daily routine. He always ordered the same meal and something got dropped in the kitchen every day. There was constantly a disgruntled customer who would complain and Jou was always the fastest to diffuse the situation. The table remained wobbly and the coffee remained weak. It was inevitable that the toast was soggy and the bacon was too chewy but Kaiba hardly noticed. He only ever noticed what colour Jou was wearing that day, how the apron was tied, the way he strode about the cafe now with such ease and comfort. It made Kaiba want to say something to Jou, have a conversation of some form. But he never did.

Sometimes they may go a week without Jou taking Kaiba's order. However, the blonde seemed to notice when Kaiba seemed stressed or tired and made sure he was always the one to serve him. The others didn't understand he didn't want to talk with anyone at these times; Jou simply brought Kaiba's regular order to him and quietly walk away. On these days the froth of the coffee had a puppy face drawn into it. Jou pretended not to notice Kaiba's face relax and his eyes crinkle, it was the only part of his face that smiled. After four days of the same behaviour, Jou put a few chocolates next to Kaiba's coffee and waited for him to look up. When he did, Jou gave him a broad smile. Kaiba wasn't off guard this time. He gave Jou a small smile of gratitude and returned to his work. For the rest of the day, both of them were inexplicably happy even though Jou was berated by several customers and Kaiba had several programmes crash, when he was in the middle of writing them.

They were content at present. They didn't need to say much to the other, their relationship was comfortable where it was. Both of them wanted to say something more than "the usual" or "sorry about the wait". But they couldn't risk what they had; they knew just how bad things could get between them. It may have pained them a little to be in this situation but they both concluded it was better to have this than nothing at all.

Kaiba sipped his coffee as he watched Jou wipe down a table. Jou looked up at him and smiled, Kaiba smiled back. Maybe it wouldn't be the way it had been in high school. They were both older and more mature; surely they couldn't do any worse than they had before. He had decided over the past few nights to ask Jou to lunch. Surely if their relationship was built on one meal, extending it into another wouldn't be too forward. He placed his empty mug on the table and waited patiently for Jou, structuring the perfect sentence. When Jou made his way over, Kaiba lost his nerve although Jou wouldn't have known it. As Kaiba left the cafe he mentally berated himself. He was just going to have to do it tomorrow. Just like he had being telling himself every day for the past week.


End file.
